China’s Zhuque-3 rocket fails to achieve full recovery on test flight
While the rocket’s second stage reached the planned orbit, the first stage failed to land safely, Xinhua reported. The methane-fueled vehicle, developed by Beijing-based commercial aerospace company LandSpace, was unable to achieve a soft landing during the recovery test.
LandSpace cited “abnormal combustion occurred during descent” as the reason for the failure.
“The anomaly occurred during the recovery verification test and prevented the booster from touching down on the designated pad. The cause of the abnormal combustion is under investigation,” the company said, according to reports. The launch took place around noon local time from the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Test Zone.
To date, only a few companies globally, including SpaceX and Blue Origin in the United States, have successfully conducted reusable rocket tests.
Despite the setback, developers highlighted positive outcomes. According to the Global Times, “Although this mission did not achieve the planned first-stage recovery objective, it successfully validated the correctness and rationality of the overall ZQ-3 carrier rocket test, launch, and flight process schemes, as well as the compatibility of interfaces across all systems.” The flight also provided critical engineering data under real flight conditions, establishing a foundation for future launch services and reliable first-stage recovery.
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